History
European Jews during World War II, as part of a program to exterminate the Jews and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Some scholars have extended this definition to include the Nazis' systematic murder of other groups including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, disabled people, homosexual men and political and religious opponents. People continue to debate whether the term Holocaust should be applied to all victims of the Nazi mass murder campaign equally, or whether it should be applied only to Jewish victims, which is called the "Final Solution." The total number of victims of Nazi genocidal policies, including Jews, the Poles, the Romani, Soviet POWs, Soviet civilians, and disabled people is generally agreed to be between 11 million and 17 million people. Eli Wiesel and Yehuda Bauer contend the Holocaust should include only Jews because it was intent of the Nazis to exterminate all Jews, the other groups were not to be totally annihilated. Simon Wiesenthal maintained that although all Jews were victims, the Holocaust transcended the confines of the Jewish community. Other people shared the tragic fate of victimhood.
The persecution and genocide were accomplished in stages. The Jews were removed from society years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were used as slave labour until they died of exhaustion or disease. Where the Third Reich conquered new territory in eastern Europe, specialized units called Einsatzgruppen murdered Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. Jews and Romani were crammed into ghettos before being transported hundreds of miles by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were killed in gas chambers.
Year
Jews Killed
1933–1940
under 100,000
1941
1,100,000
1942
2,700,000
1943
500,000
1944
600,000
1945
100,000
The Ghettos
Ghettos are certain little places that were set up to put jews in. This was suppose to isolate the jews from the whole population and keep them there until later on when the "final solution" came. That was where the Nazis destroyed the ghettos and murdered most of the jews in the ghettos. Only a small portion of jews were forced away to labor, or concentration camps.
There were three types of ghettos: closed, open and destruction. The largest ghetto was in Warsaw, Poland. It contained more than 400,000 Jews. It was about a 1.3 mile area. Jews were also deported to other ghettos in the east.
the Jews were forced to wear identificaton, badges or armbands and were forced to also perform labor tasks for the Germans.
Crematory The ghettos police force carried out the demands and orders of the ruling Nazi leaders. The Jews also practiced religion. However, if the Nazi leaders thought the ceremonies were getting out of hand, they would kill the leaders ruthlessly.
Some of the ghetto residents turned on the leaders and conducted uprisings. They revolted against the authorities and in some cases, these revolts led to the destruction of the ghettos. In Hungary, over 440,000 Jews were placed in ghettos and then deported to the Hungarian border. Most of these Hungarian Jews were sent to the Auschwitz killing center. These ghettos played a key role in the control, dehumanization and murders of the Jews during this time.
The Concentration Camps
After the Jews were sent to the ghettos, they were then sent to the numerous concentration camps. The camps were Auschwitz, Belzec, Birkenau, Chelmno, Jasenovac, Majdanek, MalyTrostinets, Sobibor. and Treblinka. Two of these, Chelmno (also known as Kulmhof) and Majdanek were already functioning as labor camps: these now had extermination facilities added to them. Three new camps were built for the sole purpose of killing large numbers of Jews as quickly as possible, at Belzec, Sobibór and Treblinka. A seventh camp, at Maly Trostinets in Belarus, was also used for this purpose. Jasenovac was an extermination camp where mostly ethnic Serbs were killed.
Extermination camps are frequently confused with concentration camps such as Dachau and Belsen, which were mostly located in Germany and intended as places of incarceration and forced labor for a variety of enemies of the Nazi regime (such as Communists and gays). They should also be different from slave labor camps, which were set up in all German occupied countries to develope the labor of prisoners of various kinds, including prisoners of war. In all Nazi camps there were very high death rates as a result of starvation, disease and exhaustion, but only the extermination camps were designed specifically for mass killing. Some of the ways the nazis used to kill the jews included The extermination camps, which were run by SS officers, but most of the guards were Ukrainian or Baltic auxiliaries. Regular German soldiers were kept well away.
The Gas Chambers
At the extermination camps with gas chambers all the prisoners arrived by train. Sometimes entire trainloads were sent straight to the gas chambers, but usually the camp doctor on duty subjected individuals to selections, where a small percentage were deemed fit to work in the slave labor camps; the majority were taken directly from the platforms to a reception area where all their clothes and other possessions were seized by the Nazis to help fund the war. They were then herded naked into the gas chambers. Usually they were told these were showers or delousing chambers, and there were signs outside saying "baths" and "sauna." They were sometimes given a small piece of soap and a towel so as to avoid panic, and were told to remember where they had put their belongings for the same reason. When they asked for water because they were thirsty after the long journey in the cattle trains, they were told to hurry up, because coffee was waiting for them in the camp, and it was getting cold.
Camp name
Killed
Auschwitz II
1,400,000
Belzec
600,000
Chelmno
320,000
Jasenovac
600,000
Majdanek
360,000
Maly Trostinets
65,000
Sobibór
250,000
Treblinka
870,000
Victims of the Holocaust
Dr. Mengele
He made some really abnormal experiments on the Jews in Auschwitz. Some of them included: Trying to change the eye color of the children by putting chemicals in them. There were a lot of surgeries and amputations. Also sometimes Mengele would do some dissections of some Roma children. He would first put them to sleep, and then give them a chemical called chloroform. Then he would dissect them and see there organs basically. He also did some twin studies. For the most part the twins would probably be murdered.
History
European Jews during World War II, as part of a program to exterminate the Jews and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Some scholars have extended this definition to include the Nazis' systematic murder of other groups including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, disabled people, homosexual men and political and religious opponents. People continue to debate whether the term Holocaust should be applied to all victims of the Nazi mass murder campaign equally, or whether it should be applied only to Jewish victims, which is called the "Final Solution." The total number of victims of Nazi genocidal policies, including Jews, the Poles, the Romani, Soviet POWs, Soviet civilians, and disabled people is generally agreed to be between 11 million and 17 million people. Eli Wiesel and Yehuda Bauer contend the Holocaust should include only Jews because it was intent of the Nazis to exterminate all Jews, the other groups were not to be totally annihilated. Simon Wiesenthal maintained that although all Jews were victims, the Holocaust transcended the confines of the Jewish community. Other people shared the tragic fate of victimhood.
The persecution and genocide were accomplished in stages. The Jews were removed from society years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were used as slave labour until they died of exhaustion or disease. Where the Third Reich conquered new territory in eastern Europe, specialized units called Einsatzgruppen murdered Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. Jews and Romani were crammed into ghettos before being transported hundreds of miles by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were killed in gas chambers.
The Ghettos
Ghettos are certain little places that were set up to put jews in. This was suppose to isolate the jews from the whole population and keep them there until later on when the "final solution" came. That was where the Nazis destroyed the ghettos and murdered most of the jews in the ghettos. Only a small portion of jews were forced away to labor, or concentration camps.
There were three types of ghettos: closed, open and destruction. The largest ghetto was in Warsaw, Poland. It contained more than 400,000 Jews. It was about a 1.3 mile area. Jews were also deported to other ghettos in the east.
the Jews were forced to wear identificaton, badges or armbands and were forced to also perform labor tasks for the Germans.
Crematory The ghettos police force carried out the demands and orders of the ruling Nazi leaders. The Jews also practiced religion. However, if the Nazi leaders thought the ceremonies were getting out of hand, they would kill the leaders ruthlessly.
Some of the ghetto residents turned on the leaders and conducted uprisings. They revolted against the authorities and in some cases, these revolts led to the destruction of the ghettos. In Hungary, over 440,000 Jews were placed in ghettos and then deported to the Hungarian border. Most of these Hungarian Jews were sent to the Auschwitz killing center. These ghettos played a key role in the control, dehumanization and murders of the Jews during this time.
The Concentration Camps
After the Jews were sent to the ghettos, they were then sent to the numerous concentration camps. The camps were Auschwitz, Belzec, Birkenau, Chelmno, Jasenovac, Majdanek, MalyTrostinets, Sobibor. and Treblinka. Two of these, Chelmno (also known as Kulmhof) and Majdanek were already functioning as labor camps: these now had extermination facilities added to them. Three new camps were built for the sole purpose of killing large numbers of Jews as quickly as possible, at Belzec, Sobibór and Treblinka. A seventh camp, at Maly Trostinets in Belarus, was also used for this purpose. Jasenovac was an extermination camp where mostly ethnic Serbs were killed.
Extermination camps are frequently confused with concentration camps such as Dachau and Belsen, which were mostly located in Germany and intended as places of incarceration and forced labor for a variety of enemies of the Nazi regime (such as Communists and gays). They should also be different from slave labor camps, which were set up in all German occupied countries to develope the labor of prisoners of various kinds, including prisoners of war. In all Nazi camps there were very high death rates as a result of starvation, disease and exhaustion, but only the extermination camps were designed specifically for mass killing. Some of the ways the nazis used to kill the jews included The extermination camps, which were run by SS officers, but most of the guards were Ukrainian or Baltic auxiliaries. Regular German soldiers were kept well away.
The Gas Chambers
At the extermination camps with gas chambers all the prisoners arrived by train. Sometimes entire trainloads were sent straight to the gas chambers, but usually the camp doctor on duty subjected individuals to selections, where a small percentage were deemed fit to work in the slave labor camps; the majority were taken directly from the platforms to a reception area where all their clothes and other possessions were seized by the Nazis to help fund the war. They were then herded naked into the gas chambers. Usually they were told these were showers or delousing chambers, and there were signs outside saying "baths" and "sauna." They were sometimes given a small piece of soap and a towel so as to avoid panic, and were told to remember where they had put their belongings for the same reason. When they asked for water because they were thirsty after the long journey in the cattle trains, they were told to hurry up, because coffee was waiting for them in the camp, and it was getting cold.
Victims of the Holocaust
Dr. Mengele
He made some really abnormal experiments on the Jews in Auschwitz. Some of them included: Trying to change the eye color of the children by putting chemicals in them. There were a lot of surgeries and amputations. Also sometimes Mengele would do some dissections of some Roma children. He would first put them to sleep, and then give them a chemical called chloroform. Then he would dissect them and see there organs basically. He also did some twin studies. For the most part the twins would probably be murdered.
Witnesses
Prisoners being set free from Auschwitz
http://www.encyclomedia.com/video-discovery_of_the_holocaust.html (video)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust